This Is Who We Are

Good morning…

“Contemplation is taking a long, loving look at something,” softly said pianist Dana Cunningham during yesterday’s Awake To Wellness Women’s Retreat. This morning, I take a long, loving look at two stick figure people juxtaposed on my page of notes, a drawing etched as author Dr. Cathy Snapp joyfully taught.

The skeleton stick figure on the left is bombarded by a list of painful words seventy-five of us “popcorn-ed” aloud, together. Shame. Abandonment. Loss. Fear. Anger. Blame. Guilt. Humiliation. Anxiety. Ambivalence. Hopeless. Complacency. Stress. These oft-experienced words rolled effortlessly from our tongues. The heading above this ragged stick figure reads: False Self. The stick figure on the right, depicting our True Self, our birthright self, our hidden life in Christ, is surrounded by words also “popcorn-ed” by the crowd. Peace. Joy. Grace. Love. Happiness. Fun. Contentment. Beauty. Gratitude. Patience. Compassion. In big, bold letters my notes say: THIS IS WHO WE ARE. When we are knit together in our mother’s womb, before the world invades: THIS IS WHO WE ARE. We move in and out of these two stick figure states, shaping, moment by moment, our own experience of everyday life.

Now I take a long, loving look at the book quote I shared at the end of our opening prayer: “As we live more and more from the deeper dimensions of the hidden life, we very slowly begin to realize that we have allowed our illusions to separate our hearts from God, others, and ourselves. We have been conditioned to think we do not have enough. We need more – be it attention, affection, esteem, control, or security – so we live with constant anxiety that drives us to control, compete, and compare ourselves to others. This process leaves us experiencing a great deal of shame, further alienating us from what is real and from who we are… As we wake up, we begin to sense a need for change. If we will open to this movement, the Spirit will take us down to round on which we can finally stand.” (Crenshaw and Snapp’s The Hidden Life Awakened, 34-35)

You yourselves are a case study of what he does. At one time you all had your backs turned to God, thinking rebellious thoughts of him, giving him trouble every chance you got. But now, by giving himself completely at the Cross, actually dying for you, Christ brought you over to God’s side and put your lives together, whole and holy in his presence. You don’t walk away from a gift like that! You stay grounded and steady in that bond of trust, constantly tuned in to the Message, careful not to be distracted or diverted. There is no other Message—just this one. Every creature under heaven gets this same Message. I, Paul, am a messenger of this Message (Colossians 1:21-23, MSG).

Living more and more grounded in our true selves, we also become messengers of God’s life-giving Message.

…Sue…